27 Key Features of Mouthparts

Key Features of Mouthparts

Are the mouthparts chewing (mandibulate), or modified for piercing, sucking, or lapping (haustellate)?

You saw an example of chewing mouthparts (left) in the grasshopper. Multiple parts were visible, including palps.

Some insects have mouthparts modified into a tube (right) for sucking fluids (haustellate mouthparts), e.g. the butterfly mentioned in the anatomy lab. Another example is the true bugs, which have piercing-sucking mouthparts. The flies, or Diptera, have all sorts of modifications, but never have chewing mouthparts.